Italian Brother – ‘Inspiration’

“Inspiration (from the Latin inspirare, meaning "to breathe into") refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or other artistic endeavour. The concept has origins in both Hellenism and Hebraism. The Greeks believed that inspiration came from the muses, as well as the gods Apollo and Dionysus. Similarly, in the Ancient Norse religions, inspiration derives from the gods, such as Odin. Inspiration is also a divine matter in Hebrew poetics. In the Book of Amos the prophet speaks of being overwhelmed by God’s voice and compelled to speak. In Christianity, inspiration is a gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Wikipedia came to my help).
Inspiration, then, is the main sparkle for everything, or so it seems. To me inspiration is like a big curtain above my eyes that when it’s unveiled I can see every little details of that stunning stage called the world.

I think we all go through phases of incredible productivity or complete emptiness. Well at least I do. There are times that the gods are looking at me with favourable eyes and wherever I turn and look I will see nothing but incredible images waiting for me to be photographed. Some other times, however, for whatever reason the sacrifice didn’t please the gods and they would just turn me into a blind man, roaming the streets without any motivation.

It has been like this for a while now, and I blame the winter months. I know it’s an excuse, for I see other people snapping away incredible photographs, so why I can’t? Why do I feel a gigantic curtain rolled down in front of my eyes? I have a persistent gnawing, hollow, empty feeling whenever I think to go out and to take some photos. What is the reason behind all this? Have I lost my magic touch?

Unfortunately I don’t really have any answers to all these questions, but I know that art cannot be hasted; one needs to take its time to reflect, but I also know that when those curtains fall and when I start seeing again there are startling, stunning moments out there to be caught! Until then, I will follow Kevin Kuster’s suggestion: “Inspiration and good subjects to photograph are always around us, we just need to have the courage to find them and the ability to create something interesting out of the ordinary. My advice for you today is to find something that you see as ordinary and mundane and make it EXTRAordinary!”